


Strength

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 14:31:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16662669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Emiri's struggled enough with the effects of being godlike, this is the last thing she needs





	Strength

It was a normal night at sea, until it wasn’t.

There wasn’t a soul on the long-rechristened _Mercy_ who didn’t at least flinch when the abrupt crash of shattering glass rent the evening air. When it was quickly followed by a loud, borderline hysterical “ _ **FUCK** you!”_ unmistakably uttered by their normally calm captain(who most of them had never heard so much as a _damn_ out of), there were significant looks exchanged before almost all of them started for the Watcher’s cabin.

Fortunately(from some points of view), Aloth was already on his way to talk to Emiri when her outburst shattered the calm. He increased his pace in hopes of beating the rest of the crew. Emiri hated being the center of attention under the best of circumstances, and anything that could make her curse--especially so strongly--was far from _best_.

He succeeded, if only just. Edér reached the bottom of the steps as Aloth rested one hand on the doorknob. Aloth gave him a look. “Let me.”

Edér caught the full weight behind the quiet words and nodded--”Sure”--before turning to deter the rest of the crew.

Aloth smiled tightly in thanks and stepped into the cabin, pushing the door closed behind him. The scene that greeted him was as heart-breaking as it was surreal. Emiri stood statue-still at the far end of her cabin, gaze fixed out the open window, heedless of the breeze ruffling her hair(loose for once) and clothes. Tears streaked down her face as she whispered her earlier invective repeatedly and emphatically to the waves. Whether the tears were due to something he’d missed or the broken glass scattered around--and _in_ \--her bare feet, Aloth couldn’t tell. Probably the former, he concluded, given that she seemed oblivious to the latter.

He cleared his throat softly. “Emiri?”

She visibly flinched before turning. “Aloth-” The movement ground glass slivers further into her feet and she cut herself off with a hiss.

“Careful,” he said, face promptly heating because _that_ was obvious. He stepped closer, glass crunching under his boots, and offered her a hand.

Silently, gingerly, leaning heavily on his support, Emiri hobbled over to a safe part of the window seat and sat down. She stared listlessly at the blood trickling down her ankles and feet, luminescent eyes even brighter with tears.

Aloth let her have a few minutes to gather her thoughts as he poked through the cabinet next to the door. He knew she kept some medical supplies in here. Just in case. _Now if I could just find them..._ Finally one hand curled around rough canvas and he pulled free the small satchel of bandages and salves. He crossed back to where she sat and perched next to her, tugging her feet up. “Let me see.”

Emiri sniffled. “I can manage, you don’t have to...”

“Emiri, you’ve sailed all over the ocean for me. Just.... let me help you.” She stopped fighting at his remonstrance and Aloth focused on working free the deeply embedded slivers.  Not the quiet breaths she was sucking in, not her toes curling at the pain. Just the slow, careful movements necessary to do this as painlessly as possible.

A minute or so passed in silence before Emiri quietly commented, “You’re good at this.”

Aloth half-shrugged. “You know what they say about practice making perfect.” He didn’t really want to dwell on how he’d _acquired_ said practice(didn’t know why he’d mentioned it), though his shoulder did twinge with sympathy pain as her toes curled, and hurriedly asked, “What happened?”

Emiri stared at her knees, tented over his lap as he worked, and chewed the inside of her cheek for long enough he wasn’t sure she would answer. “...I don’t s’ppose you’d believe me if I said _nothing_?”

He looked from her injuries to the broken glass still scattered on the floor before meeting her eyes. Or, well, trying to. She wouldn’t look at him. “Not for a second.”

She sighed and rubbed her arms as if trying to banish a persistent chill. “I... talked to the gods again.”

“I take it they’re none too pleased with the course of events?” A particularly large shard of glass slipped free from just below her ankle with a fresh trickle of blood.

Emiri flinched and shook her head. “They’re getting desperate.” She tucked loose hair behind her ear, giving him a near-despairing look. “Aloth, I...”

The tears were back, glimmering unshed in her eyes, and it made his heart ache. He’d _never_ seen her like this. “Emiri, what’s wrong?”

She stared at her knees again for a long moment before she spoke, long enough for Aloth to finish pulling glass out of her feet and move on to spreading salve over the cuts. “I... I found out something about... about godlike.”

Aloth frowned, wiping his hands on his shirt--he could wash it later--and reaching for the bandages. “From the state you’re in, I gather this wasn’t a pleasant revelation.”

Emiri fidgeted with her bracelet, rubbing the silver beads between her fingers. And then, with halting words and a haunted look in her eyes, she told him, rolling on through his stunned silence. “...I know I’m not Ondra’s favorite person on Eora, but Tekéhu supposedly _is_ , and even he’s not safe. And they were so... _cold_ about about it. I’ve always felt bearing their touch” --her fingers brushed the crescent growth on her forehead--”isn’t in itself a blessing or a curse, it’s all in how people react.” She sniffled, wiping her nose on the edge of her sleeve. “But this... we’re _power reserves_ , not ‘marked for greatness’ or anything.  Aloth....” She finally looked him in the eye, tears streaming down her face. “I’m not _special_ , I’m Ondra’s contingency plan.”

Any normal hesitation or uncertainty he might have felt bled away in the face of how absolutely _broken_ she looked, and Aloth shifted position to wrap her in a hug. “Emiri, I’m so sorry.”

“Why? It’s not your fault,” Emiri mumbled, turning her head so her crescent wouldn’t poke him as she leaned into the hug. “It’s _theirs_. If it wasn’t going to hurt kith at least as much as it hurts the gods, I’d be tempted to step back and let Eothas do his thing....”

“ _Emiri..._ ”

“I said _tempted_ ,” she said, leaning back and wiping her eyes. “Not that I was _going to_. And it _is_ going to hurt kith, so I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least _try_.”

“And _that’s_ what makes you special,” Aloth said, pushing aside the medical supplies and taking her hands in his. “Not being touched by a god. That you’ve been through so much, endured far more than most could imagine in their worst nightmares, and you’re still good. Still _kind_. It takes a special kind of strength to weather that and not only not break, but stay as kind and caring as you have.”

Emiri gave him a wan smile. “You say that like you turned out so well b’cause your life was a bed of roses or something...”

Relieved to see even a hint of her usual sunshine through the clouds cast by this awful revelation, he smiled back. “Perhaps it’s knowing from experience just how compelling and easy bitterness can be that fuels my admiration for you _not_ going that path.”

She huffed a short breath that might have been a laugh, were it less shaky.  “Well, then, you’ll have to admire yourself as well.” She squeezed one hand while the other pulled free to rake through her hair. “Gods, Aloth, what did I do to deserve a friend like you?”

“Helped me more than most anyone else would have,” Aloth replied quietly. _Saved my life, in more ways than one_. “Are you really surprised I’m willing to do the same for you?”

Emiri shook her head, carefully curling in her feet so he wasn’t trapped. “S’ppose not. But still, thank you. It means more to me than I’ll ever manage to convey.”

“I know the feeling,” he said, shooting her a significant look as he pushed to his feet. “None of the cuts were serious, by the way. They shouldn’t give you too much trouble past morning.” Another thing he knew from experience.

“Thanks, Aloth.” She settled in, back against the window frame, and shot a glance at the broken glass before gazing out at the waves. “Can... you maybe find someone off duty to come clean up? I’d do it myself, but I don’t have a broom in-”

“You should stay off your feet for now, anyway,” Aloth cut her off. “Of course I can.” He slipped out the door. It was a relief to see even the nosier types dispersed after how long it had been as he headed for the crew quarters. He tried to dwell on the task at hand rather than how big a piece of his mind he’d give the gods if he ever got the chance.

He wasn’t very successful.

**Author's Note:**

> I've mentioned before Emiri and Aloth's friendship kills me, right? They've bonded so strongly and mean so much to each other by this point, they would quite literally go to war for one another. I love them.


End file.
